Background: There is now a rapid shift in the education process from teacher 
centered learning to student centered learning to achieve the intended learning 
outcome. The aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of applying problem-based 
learning strategy versus traditional learning strategy (control group) on improving the 
nursing students' achievement. Subjects and Method: Design: A quasi-experimental 
design was used. Subjects and setting: All the 112 students at 4th levels, who studied 
the course of nursing administration at Faculty of Nursing, Beni- Suef University and 
were assigned to problem-based learning and control group. Data collection methods: 
3 structured questionnaires were used; Socio-demographic characteristics, critical 
thinking skills test, clinical learning environment structured questionnaire. Course 
outcomes measurement report was used to assess the students' academic achievement 
Results: the mean score of critical thinking and clinical area satisfaction among 
problem-based learning group are significantly higher than the control group (p= 
0.0001 and 0.001) respectively. The mean percentage of achieving the course learning 
out comes (skills and values) at problem-based learning group are significantly higher 
than the control group (p <0.05). Conclusion: The study results concluded that the 
problem-based learning approach had significant impact on improving the critical 
thinking skills, clinical area satisfaction, and academic achievements among the 
studied nursing students. It is recommended to integrate problem-based with 
traditional learning to improve students' academic achievements.